buoy English · revision 780

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈbɔɪ/, /ˈbu.i/; /ˈbɔɪ/ ''(UK)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|boye]],^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate) probably [[bor|dum|boeye]] or Old French ''boie'', ''buie'',^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(Hoad 1986) of disputed origin.^(Etymonline) One view derives these from a West Germanic word meaning “signal, beacon” (compare Old High German ''bouhhan'' “sign” and [[beacon]]).^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) The OED and others derive it from Old French ''boie'' “fetter, chain”, from Latin ''boia'', because a buoy is chained to a spot.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(Hendrickson 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A float moored in water to mark the position of things under water or a channel (1296 in Barnhart; late 13th century in Etymonline).^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ By 1466 a buoy could also be something to keep a person afloat, a life buoy.^(OED 1989) The verb meant first to mark with a buoy (1596),^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate) then to rise or float (1605, obsolete),^(OED 1989) and to keep afloat (1651).^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) The figurative sense, to keep up or raise the spirits, hope or courage, appears even earlier, in the 1640s.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) These senses may have been influenced by Spanish ''boyar'' “to float”.^(Barnhart 1995) ''Buoyant'' (1578) and ''buoyancy'' (1713) belong to the same group,^(Barnhart 1995) and Hendrickson notes the irony that a word possibly meaning “chained” came to suggest lightness and freedom.^(Hendrickson 2008)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1296 – ''boye'', a float marking a spot in water.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1466 – a life buoy.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1578 – ''buoyant''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1596 – verb, to mark with a buoy.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1645 – verb, to keep up hope or spirits.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1651 – verb, to keep afloat.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A float, often carrying a bell or light, anchored in water to mark a channel or warn of danger, or to provide a mooring.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A [[life buoy]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To keep afloat or aloft (often with ''up'').^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To support or maintain at a high level, as ''an economy buoyed by growth''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To hearten or raise the spirits of.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To mark with or as if with a buoy.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[buoyage]]

+ * [[buoyancy]]

+ * [[buoyant]]

+ * [[sonobuoy]]

+ * [[anchor buoy]]

+ * [[bell buoy]]

+ * [[breeches buoy]]

+ * [[cable buoy]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[beacon]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The word is pronounced like ''boy'' in Britain and by many sailors, and also as “boo-ee” in America; it has no etymological connection with ''boy''.^(Hendrickson 2008)^(Wiktionary)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}